Colts’ James Already Sounds Like Best Son

Edgerrin James, the productive rookie running back for the Indianapolis Colts, is goal-oriented.

“I want to be one of the best ever,” James told Dan LeBatard of the Miami Herald. “It’s important to me. Why can’t I be? Who is faster than me? Not that many. Who has the size and can move like me? Not many.

“Catch passes like me? Not many. Why can’t I play like a top running back? I want to be like Michael Jordan, making money when I’m not even playing.”

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More James: He is devoted to his mother, Julie, who worked in a school cafeteria while he was growing up. Not anymore.

“She has her own account for anything she wants. You want a Bentley? It’s ordered. I won’t ever say no to anything. She has an all-access pass to everything in the world, and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.

“Mom used to cook for 1,000 people. Get rid of all those zeros. Now she just cooks for me.”

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Trivia time: Who is the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy?

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Just a teddy bear: New Orleans Saint Coach Mike Ditka was in a benign mood at a Monday news conference. Ditka admitted his loss of confidence, his team’s lack of effort and his owner’s lack of understanding of the Saints’ 2-10 record.

One reporter asked Ditka what one area of his team needed the most improvement.

After a moment’s pause, Ditka looked at the reporter and mildly answered, “I can just choose one?”

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Solve it if you can: The Princeton men’s basketball team runs a deliberate, constant-motion offense that confuses opponents with back-door cuts.

College of Charleston Coach John Kresse was mesmerized by Princeton’s 62-44 victory over his team Saturday.

“It’s scientific, high-SAT basketball where you don’t know what’s going to come at you,” Kresse said.

It’s nothing new, coach. Princeton has been running the same plays for years and years.

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Shame on him: New England Patriot safety Lawyer Milloy, on his recent shoving match with teammate Vincent Brisby: “He grabbed my head and I got mad because he dug my earrings into my neck.”

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Now that’s stingy! Marv Levy of Fox Sports Net on Jacksonville Jaguar defensive coordinator Dom Capers: “He has instilled dominance in that Jaguar defense. They tell me he is so stingy he has a burglar alarm in his garbage can.”

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Trivia answer: Running back Archie Griffin of Ohio State in 1974 and 1975.

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And finally: The Toronto Raptors had an off day in Salt Lake City over Thanksgiving. To liven things up, forward Charles Oakley found the only open sporting-goods store in the city, bought a pingpong table, brought it to the team’s hotel and staged a tournament as part of the team’s holiday festivities.

“Muggsy Bogues won,” says Dave D’Alessandro of the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger, “but his proximity to the table [he’s 5 feet 3] was cited as an unfair advantage.”